Nigeria is saving about $2bn annually as a result of the local production of cement by different manufacturers, the Dangote Group has stated.

It also stated that the upsurge in cement production had helped increase the manufacturing sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product from about four per cent some years ago to approximately nine per cent currently.

The group is the parent company of Dangote Cement Plc, Nigeria’s foremost producer of cement.

The Group Executive Director, Dangote Group, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, said this in a presentation entitled: ‘The Nigerian Cement Sub-Sector: A Success Story in Solid Minerals Utilisation’, at the just concluded 46th Annual General Meeting, Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers in Abuja.

He stated that the resurgence in the local manufacturing of cement had led to a massive boost to mining operations, adding that about 33 metric tonnes per annum of quarried materials were estimated to have been required to ensure cement production in 2015.

The GED said local cement production had created thousands of direct and indirect jobs and had displaced foreign exchange demand for its importation, which would by now have grown to about $2bn annually.

He added, “It has increased revenue to government in form of taxes, not just from the cement manufacturers, but also from other participants in the value chain. Cement scarcity is now a thing of the past as local production capacity outstrips demand.

“There is now prospects of forex earnings from cement exports to neighbouring countries. It is also a healthy addition to the stock exchange and distribution of wealth to the stockholders.”